Thai Jasmine Rice and the Threat of the US Biotech Industry

This past November in Khon Kaen, Thailand, a collection of villagers,

farmers, workers, environmentalists, people with HIV/AIDS, NGOs, and
womens networks came together to celebrate Isaan (the people and area of the
northeast in Thailand) local wisdom and local culture. The festival, put together
by the peoples movement against globalization, involved traditional Isaan
music and dancing while people sold locally made crafts and products, shared
different ideas about globalization and resistance, and drank the recently
legalized traditional alcohol like satho (rice wine) and lao (rice whiskey).
At the festival there were over one thousand Isaan farmers protesting the
genetic research of American scientists Chris Deren and Neil Rutger. The two
have genetically engineered a strain of the famous khao hom-mali (Thai
jasmine rice) that they claim is suitable for growing in the US. To Thai farmers
jasmine rice, created and nurtured by farmers in Isaan for a generation over, is
a symbol of local wisdom and traditional culture. Mr. Gate Kong-Ngam a
farmer from Surin province in the Northeast said, Jasmine rice belongs to Thai
communities, and Thai farmers. Our grandfathers, grandmothers, great
grandfathers, and great grandmothers have been growing it for millions of
years.1 Another farmer Mr. Samai added, Jasmine rice is a Thai thing. Its
like Thai boxing. It doesnt make sense for it to be anywhere else.2
Thai farmers concerned about future of their valued crop
Thousands of Isaan farmers have been protesting about the jasmine rice
case all over the country in the past two months condemning the US and World
Trade Organization (WTO) with black magic rituals in front of the US embassy
in Bangkok, rallying before the Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on a recent
visit to the northeast province of Surin, and burning effigies of US president
George W. Bush and head of WTO Mike Moore in Mahasarakham province.
Farmers are worried that Chris Derens new strain of rice will be patented and
grown throughout the US, threatening the ability of Thai farmers to export
jasmine rice both in the US market and in Europe, Hong Kong, and Japan.
Jasmine rice is one of the most sought after strains of rice in the world
and is grown by over 5 million families in Thailand many of whom are in debt
and very poor. In 1999 the average income of farming households was 26,822
baht (US$600) significantly lower than the average household earning of
78,875 baht (about $1800).3 If the small-scale farmers in Thailand lose the
markets for jasmine rice, in particular its main buyer the US, then the viability
of their livelihood will be threatened in the future. Ms. Bayoong, a jasmine rice
farmer from the central region of Thailand said, If Americans started growing
rice it would affect us for sure, it would make the price of rice fall even further.
I dont know if my family can take another hit like that.4
Ms. Bayoong is not exaggerating. While jasmine rice accounts for about
25 percent of Thailands overall yearly rice export, jasmine rice makes up more
than 90 percent of the Thai rice that reaches America each year. Last year,

Thailand exported 243,000 tons of rice to the US, its biggest buyer, 200,000
tons of which was jasmine rice.5 An American strain of jasmine rice under the
control of large agro-industrial companies would greatly undercut that market,
striking against the small-scale farmers in Thailand who are already struggling
for survival.
Details of how Deren obtained the seed put role of International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in question?
As farmers worries grow, details of how Chris Deren obtained the strain
of jasmine rice are still unclear. Deren, a professor at the University of
Floridas Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, claims he got the seed
from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines in
1995. Yet IRRI has no record of Deren taking the seed, and never informed the
Thai government of his doing so.6 As a result Thai authorities are questioning
the responsibility of IRRI, which holds over 86,000 strains of rice collected
from all over the world5,500 of which are Thai.7
IRRI is an international agency funded through the Consultative Group
on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) which operates under the
World Bank. It was created to aid developing countries by promoting food
security and eradicating poverty.8 Yet at a press conference held in Bangkok on
2 November 2001 many farmers networks and NGOs throughout Southeast
Asia stated that the much of the work of IRRI has in fact gone against the
interests of Asian farmers. They claimed that rather then safeguarding the local
wisdom and seed varieties of Asian farmers, the practices of IRRI favor the
interests of agro-industrial corporations by lending themselves to biopiracy,
which ultimately undermines food security and creates poverty throughout the
region.9
According to an agreement with the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) researchers requesting seeds from the institute must follow
the Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), which firmly states the recipient
cannot seek to patent or monopolize donated seeds from the Institute. Yet
Deren never completed an MTA upon receiving Jasmine Rice 105 seeds
from IRRI.10 According to Mr. Boriboon Somrith, Thailands liaison officer for
IRRI, Generally the institute does not enforce the Material Transfer
Agreement seriously because we consider that transferring genetic resources
among researchers is a common activity.11 This irresponsible behavior puts
the traditional knowledge of farmers at risk jeopardizing the stability of Asian
rice farming in general. While Deren claims he will not seek a patent for his
new strain of jasmine rice, Thai officials wont be satisfied until he signs a
formal agreement with the government.
The Outcome of Derens Experiment; a matter of $100 million a
year

After obtaining the seed, Chris Deren genetically mutated the rice with
gamma rays to make the plant mature earlier and grow shorter. Both qualities
are necessary for making the rice more suitable to the American climate and for
the US preference for mechanical harvesting. In fact, Deren reports that the
crop is not dependent on seasonal fluctuations and will consistently ripen in 90
days, regardless of what season it was planted in.12
The research was conducted at the University of Florida, in
collaboration with the University of Arkansas, and was funded by the USDAs
National Rice Research Center. Deren claims that his research has produced
very satisfactory results, and that his rice is just as aromatic and delicious as
the Thai jasmine rice.13 While Derens rice will not be suitable for commercial
production for a few years, US biotech corporations watch eagerly, hoping to
get a stake in the expanding global market for jasmine rice.
News of Derens experiments have already reached the business
community in the US. Klaus Senglemann, general manager of Semi-Chi Rice
Products an American company in Florida said the research had caught the
attention of many businesses in the field.14 According to the company, a
jasmine rice variety that is comparable to jasmine rice imported from Thailand
could bring in a sizeable profit. Currently regular varieties of American rice sell
at $340 US per ton, while jasmine rice from Thailand sells at $520 US per ton,
a difference of 44 percent. This year Thai jasmine rice sales in the US
translated to about $120 million dollars.15 If this $120 million dollar market
diminished then it would have a drastic effect on the Thai rice export, which
would hit Thai farmers the hardest.
Branding the Asian rice bowl: the case of Indias Basmati rice and
RiceTecs Jasmati rice
Because of the high value of Asian rice strains American companies
have been vigorously trying to get a share of the markets for these popular
strains of rice. Recently, the Indian government learned that its traditional
basmati rice exports will be undercut at a cost of close to $200 million a year
by a genetically modified strain that is a Texas grown version of Indias
Basmati Rice created by the US Biotech firm RiceTec Inc.16 In a highly
controversial case RiceTec won the ability to claim monopoly on its American
made basmati-like rice, and even market it as superior in quality to the Indian
parent variety.
But thats not all. In September 1997, RiceTec won rights to trademark a
brand of rice it calls Jasmati. Jasmati is marketed as a Texas-grown copy of
Thai jasmine rice even though it has no relation to either Thai jasmine rice or
Indias basmati rice.17 The Jasmati rice is actually derived from a combination
of Italian Bertone rice and a US variety called Della.18 Yet the company is able
to mislead consumers into believing they are getting a combination of jasmine
and basmati rice, the two most popular imported rice strains in the US.
In fact, a recent market survey completed by the Thai commercial
attache in Washington illustrated that more than half of the consumers in the

US bought Jasmati because they believed it was related to jasmine and basmati
rice.19 RiceTecs Jasmati has already affected Thailands export market of
jasmine rice.
US holdup of Jasmine rice threatens future US-Thai relations
The controversy over jasmine rice has created a lot of negative feelings
amongst Thai farmers and Thai citizens towards America. It is now a common
sight to see farmers wearing Bin Laden t-shirts in their protests, and the
protests are becoming more aggresively anti-American. While most farmers
dont support the violent acts of September 11th many of them sympathize with
Bin Ladens anti-American sentiments. Mr. Bamrung Kayotha a leader of the
farmers networks asserts, The Americans are the ones that set up this youre
either with us or against us thing. Im not a terrorist but I dont like that
theyve stolen our rice.20 Another farmer, Mr. Pun Jaoiewiang, age 52 from
Khon Kaen province, adds, Thais and Americans have always been like
brothers and sisters. But if we continue to have oppressive policies towards
each other, like with this jasmine rice, than we will lose that brotherhood for
sure. Unless the US returns the rice to us, we will declare ourselves her enemy
for good.21
Biotechnology: Small Countries find it hard to compete; Small holders
find it harder to survive
The Thai government has assured that it will be actively investigating
Derens research, and any other research conducted on Thai jasmine rice. It has
already appointed two lawyers to investigate the situation, and has also given
funds to the Thai biotec research center to identify the genome of jasmine rice
in order to defend it from outside researchers and companies.22 But NGOs
arent yet sure how far the Thai government is willing to go to protect the
countries valuable rice variety. Rather then being a legal question they claim it
is more of a political question.23 How far is the Thai government willing to
push the US in the midst of the US war and global recession? The question
remains unanswered.
But it is the small-scale farmers of Thailand that have the most to lose in
this situation with jasmine rice. Losing much of their export market for jasmine
rice adds more problems to Thai farmers who have been struggling with soil
erosion and serious debt as a result of the green revolution.24 According to the
Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) in Thailand there
are currently 4.65 million farming families whose total debt to various lending
banks comes to 300 billion baht (about US$7 billion).25 That means on average
each familys debts of about 64,000 baht (about $1500) is more than twice the
27,000-baht average annual income of farming households.26
For the past decade Thai farmers have been protesting the Thai
government and agro-industrial companies demanding changes in the countries
agricultural sector. The loss of one of their most important crops, jasmine rice,

is not the type of change that they were hoping for. Mr. Loi Lerngram a farmer
from the northeast says, To patent jasmine rice or to misuse its name is
plundering from the poor. Anyone who would steal from the poor Thai farmers
is really shameless.27
WTOs TRIPs agreement giving Biotech companies the edge in
agricultural trade
The current situation with jasmine rice raises many issues about the
current framework governing global trade in agriculture. If America is
eventually able to get a patent on a modified version of Thai jasmine rice, like
it has on India's basmati rice, then Thailand will be forced to comply with it
under the infamous WTO agreement known as the TRIPs (Trade Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights).
TRIPs imposes a uniform standard for intellectual property protection
throughout the world; protecting patents, trademarks, copyright etc. TRIPs was
created at the 1994 trade round of GATTS which gave birth to the WTO, has
been resisted by many countries throughout the global south who argue that it
allows transnational corporations (TNCs) from the North to exploit the
biological and genetic diversity found in the South.28 Under TRIPs companies
can obtain patents over plant varieties, which are the basis of food security, and
health care throughout the world. Yet in order for the plants to be patented they
must be altered in some way so that they are distinctively different from the
original organism found in nature.29
As a result, a country like Thailand has no authority to patent its jasmine
rice as it already exists. It could only patent a new variety of it that altered one
or two genes within the genome. This gives global biotech and drug companies
the advantage for once their products are patented they can claim monopoly
rights so that anyone wishing to use their product will have to pay the owning
company.
By building seed monopolies Biotech companies can further control the
process of food production requiring farmers to buy seeds expanding their input
costs significantly. By giving advantage to TNCs TRIPs implicitly favors the
economies of the developed world, as almost all of the companies large enough
to do global research on biological resources are based in the North. This is
explains why a farmer from Isaan held a sign in Bangkok protesting the WTO
TRIPs agreement reading TRIPs: Seeds of Colonization.
This case study of jasmine rice in Thailand also illuminates what the
future of world agriculture may look like with the rise in genetic engineering
and biotechnology on the farm. This is a future where the farmer has even less
control over food production, becoming little more than factory machines into
which corporations pump inputs and materials into and then take control over
the subsequent output and distribution processes as well. Meanwhile the
consumer has no ability to make an educated decision over whether they are
buying genetically engineered food or not as labeling GMOs "unfairly
discriminates against biotech companies who already have all the cards

stacked up in their hands. Situations like this make one question where the
freedom lies in the so called free trade and free market championed by
corporations and governments around the world.
International solidarity the key to resistance
While the story told above may seem a little bleak, all is not lost. In fact
a broad global coalition of labor unions, religious groups, feminists, farmers,
HIV/AIDS activists, anarchists, environmentalists, and concerned citizens are
coming together and creating alternatives. Since the problems that we are
facing in our communities are truly global in their nature, we must come
together as people and seek out global solutions together, which will benefit us
all.
Thai farmers need the help of international citizens. By linking up with
people from around the world the Thai farmers have a better chance of
protecting their highly prized jasmine rice, and therefore the sustainability of
their livelihoods. If you wish to help farmers in Thailand in their struggle you
can:
-Write a letter to your trade representative urging them to further revise
the WTO TRIPs agreement, calling for all biological resources to be
void from the TRIPs agreement
-Write a letter to Chris Deren at:
5881SW Market St
Palm City, FL 24990-5124
or email him at cwd@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu Urging him to sign a formal
agreement with the Thai government saying he will not sell his rice to a
company who may control over his new strain of rice.
-Write a letter to the United States Department of Agriculture urging
them to halt all research that will threaten the export viability of crops
from the developing world, which millions of farmers depend on. Send
to:
Office of the Administrator
Floyd P. Horn
Jamie L. Whitten Building 302-A
14th and Independence Ave
SW Washington 20250
Or email him at admars@ars.usda.gov
-

Organize teachings, rallies, actions in your local communities about

the current context of Biotech corporations and their attempt to seize
jasmine rice from poor farmers in Thailand.

For more information on the WTOs TRIPs agreement see:

-www.grain.org/publications/chapter5-en-p.htm
-www.grain.org
-http://iisd.ca.trade/trips.htm
-www.attac.org/nonewround/wto/wto02.htm
-http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/ws/2001/64/trips.html
For more information on the patenting and genetic engineering being done
on Asian rice see:
-www.grain.org/publications/rice-en-p.htm
-www.poptel.org.uk/panap/archives/la-thais.htm
-www.biotech-info.net/thai-farmers.html
-www.american.edu/TED/thairice.htm
-www.eftafairtrade.org/Document.asp?DOCID=202&tod=4553
For more information on the WTO and Globalization in general see:
-www.globalizethis.org
-www.wtowatch.org
-www.focusweb.org
-www.ifg.org
-www.wtoaction.org
-www.wto.org
-www.canadians.org
Contacts to NGOs working on this issue:
In Thailand
-Biothai- The Thai Network on Community Rights and Biodiversity
Witoon Lianchamroon
Tel: 6622952-7953
Fax:6622952-731
biothai@pacific.net.th
-RRAFA- Rural Reconstruction Alumni and Friends Association
Ms. Walaiporn Od-ompanich
Tel: 662935-2981
Fax:662935-2980
rrafa@loxinfo.co.th
International
-ENGAGE- Educational Network for Global and Grassroots Exchange
In Thailand Peggy Reents at preents@yahoo.com
In USA Chris Westcott at cwestco@hotmail.com
-EFTA- European Fair Trade Association
Belgium

Elisabeth Piras
Tel: (+32) 2 213 12 46
Fax: (+32) 2 213 12 51
elisabeth.piras@skynet.be
-ETC (formerly known as RAFI)- The Action Group on Erosion, Technology
and Concentration
USA
Hope Shand
Tel: (204) 453-5259
Hope@etcgroup.org
Chris Westcott
cwestco@hotmail.com
12/18/01

Interview , Surin, Thailand, 11/10/01

Interview, Bangkok, Thailand 11/9/01

Staff writer, Plan Approved to alleviate farmer povery Bangkok Post, Thailand 11/13/01

3
4

Interview, Bangkok, Thailand 11/9/01

Piras Elizabeth, Thai ricegrowers protest against the US holdup of Thai jasmine rice 11/6/01,
www.eftafairtrade.org/Document.asp?DOCID=202&tod=4553
6
Staff writer, Jasmine Rice Row:US breeder gets benefit of doubt The Nation, Thailand, 10/18/01, or
see News release, US acquisition of aromatic Thai rice breaks trust, tramples farmers, threatens trade
and seed treaty talks from Thai NGO Biothai, Bangkok, 10/30/01
5

Porport Changyawa, Call to review IRRI deal Bangkok Post, Thailand, 12/3/01
Piras Elizabeth, Thai ricegrowers protest against the US holdup of Thai jasmine rice 11/6/01,
www.eftafairtrade.org/Document.asp?DOCID=202&tod=4553

statement from Francis S. Morales of MASIPAG an NGO from the Philippines, 11/2/01
News release, US acquisition of aromatic Thai rice breaks trust, tramples farmers, threatens trade
and seed treaty talks from Thai NGO Biothai, Bangkok, 10/30/01

10

11

Press statement, Johan Bosman, of KWIA the Flemish Support Group for Indigenous Peoples, based
in Belgium, Europe 11/1/01
12
Gourmet Style Thai Jasmine Rice May Be Future US Crop News Release from University of
Florida, Belle Glade FL, USA 9/11/01, www.Napa.ufl.edu/2001news/jasmine.htm
13
Staff writer, US plant breeder cooks up exotic Thai rice The Daily News, Chicago IL, USA
9/28/01 http://origin.dailynews.lk/2001/09/28/wor04.htm
14
Gourmet Style Thai Jasmine Rice May Be Future US Crop News Release from University of
Florida, Belle Glade FL, USA 9/11/01, www.Napa.ufl.edu/2001news/jasmine.htm
15

Gourmet Style Thai Jasmine Rice May Be Future US Crop News Release from University of
Florida, Belle Glade FL, USA 9/11/01, www.Napa.ufl.edu/2001news/jasmine.htm
16

News release, Kristin Dawkins of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis MN,
USA 11/1/01 or see Biopiracy, TRIPs, and the patenting of Asias Rice Bowl from GRAIN an NGO
based in the Phillipines 5/98 www.grain.org/publications/rice-en-p.htm
17
Pennapa Hongthong, Govt step closer to legal action The Nation, Thailand, 11/14/01

18

Prangtip Daorueng, US patent on Thai Jasmati rice! 5/98

http://eagle.westnet.gr/cgian/jasmati.htm
19
Pennapa Hongthong, Govt step closer to legal action The Nation, Thailand, 11/14/01
20

interview, Bangkok, 11/9/01

interview, Khon Kaen, Thailand 12/3/01
22
Staff writer, Biotec launches rice research unit The Nation, Thailand 10/19/01
23
interview, Nicola Bullard deputy director, of NGO Focus on the Global South
24
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Sustainable Agriculture for Environment (SAFE), Project
Proposal, Thailand, 2001,p. IV
25
Noel Rajesh, A Peoples Agenda For Change Watershed Vol. 6 No.3 March June 2001 p.49
26
Staff writer, Plan Approved to alleviate farmer povery Bangkok Post, Thailand 11/13/01
21

27

News release, Thai Peoples Movements Mobilise to Protect Jasmine Rice from NGO Biothai,
Bangkok 4/98 www.poptel.org.uk/panap/archives/la-thais.htm
28
Biopiracy, TRIPs, and the patenting of Asias Rice Bowl from GRAIN an NGO based in the
Phillipines 5/98 www.grain.org/publications/rice-en-p.htm
29
Biopiracy, TRIPs, and the patenting of Asias Rice Bowl from GRAIN an NGO based in the
Phillipines 5/98 www.grain.org/publications/rice-en-p.htm